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One of the key drivers of the Indian economy and the country’s growth story is the infrastructure sector, which comprises highways, railways, metro, power, bridges, dams, roads, smart cities and other public utilities. To ensure the holistic planning and execution of infrastructure projects by reducing implementation costs, the government has set up multiple schemes and digital platforms. The increased focus on the infrastructure sector has resulted in the discipline of Engineering Consultancy Services witnessing a huge demand in the country. Trafficinfratech’s Rajashri Ramakrishnan interacted with industry experts Sanjeev Gupta – AVP and Group Sector Head – Transportation, TCE and D V Sridhar Murthy – Managing Director, Samarth Infraengg Technocrats Pvt Ltd.
Smart cities are not meant to make profits, they are a social welfare project made to improve the life of the people. TCE has the maximum smart city projects in India.
– Sanjeev Gupta
Project Consultancy Services include pre-project, project execution and post-project support, covering functions such as project identification & evaluation; environmental impact assessment, development or sourcing of technologies; preparation of feasibility reports, market studies; designing of projects, equipment procurement & erection; engineering design services, project management services, architectural & construction engineering services and project commissioning, operations & maintenance, as published in a report.
According to research, the India engineering services market generated a revenue of USD 149,403.6 million in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 254,015.8 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2024 to 2030. In terms of revenue, India accounted for 4.6% of the global engineering services market in 2023 and is touted the fastest growing regional market in Asia Pacific.
One of the giants in the area of infra consulting, Tata Consulting Engineers Limited, whose turnover increased from `400cr in 2012-13 to `1400 crores in 2024-25, is involved in all key areas of the service. Sanjeev Gupta explained: “We have three verticals, viz., power, infrastructure and resources. Infra projects are influenced by a few factors that include environment, trade, technology, international policies, history, politics, population and economics. In the very initial stages, the project is identified and the government entity appoints a reputed, vocal, program management consultant to help draft policy decisions. Once the policy is framed, pre-feasibility work is carried out.
“This stage determines the advantages and disadvantages, whether the project is socially viable and the investment recoverable. The government will have some broad estimation of time, cost and quality.
Nowadays, safety audits are coupled with the design. Not so a few years ago. We also have a safety team with us and we do a separate run-through with the safety auditor and suggest additional measures which will involve additional cost
depending on the condition of the asset. Some concessionaires appreciate it.
– D V Sridhar Murthy
Pre-feasibility study includes understanding how many houses will get impacted, whether approval will be given if close to a forest area, if there are feeding or nesting grounds by the riverside etc.
Based on the study, the viability of the project is established. Once done, it goes into the feasibility stage where a detailed project report (DPR) is prepared. After the DPR is prepared, it goes to the appropriate level in the government and the project amount is sanctioned. The project then moves to the implementation stage.
“Government projects may go on BOT (Build Operate Transfer) basis, EPC contract basis (a form of construction contract wherein a single contractor is responsible for the engineering, procurement, and construction of a project thereby providing a single point of accountability for the project’s success), item-rate contract basis or even a hybrid model. All these models are adopted by us as consultants. Our employee strength is around 6500+ and we have expertise across all engineering disciplines.
We have also developed a program management app that captures images from the sight. The dashboard of the app gives the senior staff of all stakeholders up-to-date information so they can monitor progress, quality, findings, resources, manpower and address concerns from on the field.”
D V Sridhar Murthy stated that his company does work for the large concessionaires who bid for and win major government projects, among others. “Some of the concessionaires have their own construction wings, some outsource to the other contractors available in the market. They want us to do the supervision of the quality assurance and quality control part of the construction work. That includes quality, time, and financial control to ensure the project’s successful completion within specified timelines.
Handing over the project to the authority happens at a later date. Our job ends when the construction part is over. Once the completion certificate is issued by the relevant authority, our PMC services come to an end. That’s where we will hand over the project to the concessionaire and he will operate and maintain it for the period awarded to him.”
The Company also does post construction work awarded to investors who delegate engineering work to various contractors and appoint the Consultancy to oversee the work for time and quality control.
“We generally do a PMC by having a dedicated team there. There are a couple of projects where we have worked from the bidding stage to completion, one is near Vishakhapatnam, the other near Hyderabad. These are both national highway projects won by a large construction group.
“In the pre-bid phase, we did the estimation of the quantities, constraints, key issues associated with the project and costing basis the market rate analysis. Our job is to give them accurate quantity for the bidding, then is up to the appetite of concessionaire to win the bid.”
“Our work is mainly on the cost and not the revenue side. We estimate YoY maintenance cost to the project. Routine maintenance projects include cleaning highways and other structures, filling potholes, sealing cracks, cleaning signages and crash barriers; Operational costs like operating an ambulance, a route patrolling vehicle or a toll plaza for YoY cost estimates, determining the future deterioration of these elements, estimating future maintenance cost at an interval of six to seven years depending on the condition of the road and traffic, are all part of the deliverables.”
A lot of detailed investigations is done on the ground. The Services Company estimates the rehabilitation strategy for the road or pavement and the rehabilitation strategy for the structures (major and minor bridges, ROBs etc.) over a period of ten to 20 years depending on the construction period (immediate and future requirements).
“We give the investors the first year CAPEX, operations cost and major maintenance cost YoY for over the concession period,” added Murthy.
Challenges and risks are many. Gupta admitted, “There is a scarcity of civil engineers, which is sometimes a handicap because we do not get trained staff. Getting experienced people, slow payment cycle as compared to the speed of completion of the project and railway projects asking for 30-35 CVs at the bidding stage are some of the other challenges.
“According to Sridhar Murthy, major challenge is getting good manpower. “We have good people for design but when it comes to supervision, quality control etc it is very difficult to get good CVs in the market.”
Other challenges faced by Samarth Infraengg Technocrats include selection of a knowledgeable contractor as the success of the project depends on this. “As a consultant I will be suggesting a lot of value engineering options to the concessionaire, and sometimes there will be resistance. Any value engineering which is slightly difficult to execute will have some savings on cost but the construction team will always prefer the easy method, so we need to strike a balance.
“We also have to deal with multiple people – the concessionaire who was awarded the contract, the EPC contractor, the authority engineer, the authority – in addition to keeping watch on project progress and maintaining good relations with all, which is a challenge. If anything goes wrong, the first blame falls on the consultant. The final risk is, since the PMC is always with the private concessionaire, we may be laid off the project anytime.”
The growth story for consultancy however continues. TCE is consultant for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and lead contractors in a consortium of four for the first bullet train from Mumbai to Ahmedabad (508 kms), a prestigious project scheduled to be completed in 2027. The company is also doing two tunnels in Mumbai – the Thane Borivali twin tunnel and the Orange Gate to Princess Necklace one. Multiple smart city projects, metros, ropeways and large infrastructure projects are on the cards. With the huge target to achieve Viksit Bharat status by 2047, a 90-hour work week may still fall woefully short.